


there is filth in every world

by Assassin_J



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Dishonored 1, Gen, Ghost Desmond Miles, Mute Corvo Attano, Sign Language, no dishonored spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26633290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assassin_J/pseuds/Assassin_J
Summary: For Cross Our Hearts Day 20: Mask and Day 22: Reflection.After Desmond's death, his ghost has traveled to other worlds to observe. One such world contains the Empire of the Isles.
Relationships: Corvo Attano & Desmond Miles
Comments: 13
Kudos: 48
Collections: Cross Our Hearts





	1. Chapter 1

Corvo stared into the dark still water. He didn't know the river's name. Maybe it didn't even warrant a name, with how filthy it was. A couple factories eastward of it dumped their waste byproducts out into the currents, to be washed away to the Ocean and forgotten about. The slurry of oil and soap and other filth made the surface of the river shiny.

Via the reflection, Corvo's mask stared back at him, the glassy lenses emotionless and cold.

"I don't see why you gotta wear that thing," Desmond said. "You're stealthy enough they never get a glimpse of your face anyway."

Corvo turned to face him and to sign an answer. " _[Someone's](https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=4118)_ getting a glimpse," he said, with emphasis conveyed through the quick jagged motion of his hand on that word. "The rags have headlines about the Masked Felon."

"Alright, then. Guess you're not as stealthy as me," Desmond said with a half-concealed smirk.

"You're a damn ghost. A spirit."

"Oh. Yeah, I mean in my life before this."

Corvo just grunted in response. He was still wary of Desmond. The weird spectre had shown up outside the Golden Cat, and had followed him around ever since. Apparently nobody else could see him, just Corvo - maybe because he carried the Heart. Desmond wasn't like the Outsider. The Outsider seemed by Corvo's estimation to be a solid creature, but Desmond was noncorporeal and transparent, at times merely a haze in the air.

Desmond glanced into the mucky river. "Why is everything in this world so gross?"* he asked nonchalantly. "I mean I've seen some gross shit in New York, but this place is even past that. Don't you have like a Greenpeace or something to keep the pollution down?"

Corvo was no stranger to this line of complaint. "You an environmentalist?" Jessamine had had audience with many of them, before the Plague turned everyone's priorities elsewhere.

"I would say so, yeah. Used to do Clean-Up-The-Park events back in New York."

["Fantastic," Corvo signed blandly](https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=7129), turning away. He set his eyes on the bridge upstream, where tallboys were patrolling. "I've got clean-up tasks of my own here though. Human filth. Corruption."

Desmond grinned. "Hell yeah. I've cleaned up some of that shit too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * does anyone remember that one twitch stream where the streamer asked "Why is everything in Dishonored so gross?" and then spent about five million minutes clarifying that he totally didn't mean the LGBT characters


	2. Chapter 2

Corvo had been surprised that Desmond could understand hand-language; most people he met did not know one whit of it, and had no real desire to learn. Jessamine had been one of the few exceptions; she had often told Corvo that the language was superlatively beautiful.

At first he thought Desmond only understood hand-language by virtue of being a spirit, above human concerns such as language barriers. But Desmond later dispelled this belief when he told Corvo that he was taught a very similar language while growing up.

Desmond had explained it one quiet night when Corvo couldn't sleep. He even used hand-language to explain it, though he was somewhat slow, as if out of practice. "There were some really badass Deaf —" (here Desmond started to sign one word, then appeared to change his mind mid-gesture) "— people in my... community."

"What was that? The word you didn't use," Corvo asked.

"[Never mind](https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=6727)," Desmond said. "Anyway, my mom and dad made sure I learned it. Besides having Deaf people around, it was also super-useful to be able to communicate silently."

Corvo nodded, a smile growing on his face. "There were many nights that Emily and I had long silent conversations."

Desmond smiled too. "She seems like a really delicious child."

"What?"

"Emily seems like a really delicious child," Desmond expressed again, but this time he spoke along with his signs. Out loud, what he said was, "Emily seems like a really sweet child."

Corvo had to laugh. "You did 'delicious' instead of 'sweet'."

Desmond blinked.

"'Delicious' for food that is good. 'Sweet' for a person that is good," Corvo explained, doing the two signs in question slowly so Desmond could see the slight difference.

"Ah, fuck," Desmond muttered, giving up on signing for the time being. "That gives a really different meaning, hah!" He wiggled his fingers. "Wooo, I'm a scary ghost here to eat your daughter! Haha. Either I just screwed it up, or maybe American Sign Language is not quite the same as, uh, Gristol Sign Language."

"There is a dictionary in the palace library," Corvo said, grinning. But the grin quickly left his face as he remembered he was highly unwelcome around the palace these days. "Never mind. Forgot I'm a wanted man."

"It's good to forget that, once in a while," Desmond said softly.

Corvo didn't fail to notice the tone in the ghost's voice there; a tone that hinted at a dark past. "You have been a wanted man, too," he said, not bothering to make it a question.

"Yes, I... I don't want to talk about it."

"A story for another night, then."

"Another night," Desmond agreed.


End file.
